Our Correspondent
Imphal, May 1 (EMN): The three missing persons in Manipur are still untraceable even after a team of naval divers from Visakhapatnam on Wednesday have joined the ongoing search operations in the reservoir of Mapithel dam, located about 40km north east of Imphal in Kamjong district of Manipur on Wednesday.
The three persons went missing after their boat capsized during a storm in Manipur on Sunday afternoon.
To join the search operations, 12 naval divers along with diving equipment were airlifted by an Indian Air Force aircraft to Imphal on Tuesday night and joined the operations on Wednesday.
But there is no report of recovery till the filing of this report. The officials of the NDRF when contacted on phone informed that the search will continue on Thursday. The official also informed that trees inside the reservoir are slowing the search.
It may be mentioned that the search operation was jointly conducted by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) from its 12 battalion from Arunachal Pradesh in association with the State Disaster Response Force, state police and fire services department to trace the missing since Sunday. Currently around 35 NDRF personnel including some officers are deployed in Manipur.
The missing three persons Rajib (35), S Romen (29) and N Rani (19) all from Ningthoukhong Kha-Khunou village in Manipur’s Bishnupur district drowned when their boats capsized in a storm on Sunday around 4 pm in the reservoir of the dam along with nine others. The locals rescued nine others. However three of them could not be traced till date.
Meanwhile in the wake of Sunday’s incident and a similar incident in Imphal River wherein another man from Nongmaikhong Makha Leikai village under Kakching district drowned to death when his boat capsized, the state government has banned operation of all types of unauthorised boats/vessels in reservoirs, rivers, lakes and inland water bodies.
